RAD­HI­CA DE SIL­VA | Se­nior Mul­ti­me­dia Re­porter

rad­hi­ca.sookraj@guardian.co.tt

Trapped in the up­per-floor apart­ments at Ol­era Heights, San Fer­nan­do, over a dozen el­der­ly res­i­dents are beg­ging the Hous­ing De­vel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion (HDC) to re­pair their bro­ken el­e­va­tor.

The res­i­dents say the el­e­va­tor was work­ing well, but three weeks ago, work­ers claim­ing to be from the HDC came to ser­vice the el­e­va­tor at Tu­ture Build­ing and left it dys­func­tion­al.

Among those af­fect­ed was Kelvin Scott, a wheel­chair-bound ten­ant liv­ing on the sec­ond floor.

Strug­gling with mul­ti­ple health is­sues, in­clud­ing arthri­tis, heart trou­ble, and kid­ney trou­ble, Scott said:

"Since the el­e­va­tor spoil, I can­not go up or come down. I used to wheel in­to the el­e­va­tor and go down­stairs to get some air, but now I have to stay here."

Not­ing the con­fine­ment is tak­ing a toll on his health, Scott ap­pealed to the Min­is­ter for help, say­ing, "We can­not go on like this, please help us."

Nine­ty-two-year-old Hol­lis Ever­s­ley, re­sid­ing on the third lev­el, shared Scott's dis­sat­is­fac­tion with the HDC's de­layed re­sponse. Re­call­ing a sim­i­lar in­ci­dent in 2012 when the el­e­va­tor was out of ser­vice for six months, Ever­s­ley said back then, he coped bet­ter.

"Back then, I could still move, but now that I had knee surgery, I am feel­ing the weak­ness. I can­not walk down those stairs," he said.

Guardian Me­dia has reached out to Hous­ing and Ur­ban De­vel­op­ment Min­is­ter Camille Robin­son Reg­is, and we are await­ing a com­ment.